This season share the 'Spirit of Bill'

Some old timers will remember when Iowa City boasted of its own Santa Claus. If you saw him on the street you couldn't miss him. From the first of December until Christmas he would wear his Santa suit replete with hat, boots and bells. He had no sleigh, but relied on the Iowa City bus line to get him to his job at the University of Iowa.

Our Santa, Bill Sackter, ran a small coffee shop on the campus called Wild Bill's. As you might imagine, Santa Bill was short, rotund, with a scraggly white beard. His most prominent feature, however, was his smile, a smile that didn't need explaining. We knew what he was telling us: "Life is good, people are good, and you are my friend."

Santa Bill was Jewish and enjoyed his Bar Mitzvah at age 67. His late development came from having been institutionalized for 44 years, commencing at age seven. Officially, he was deemed mentally challenged. He may not have been able to read or write or dial a phone, but he knew how to bring joy to others. His spirit was infectious to those who around him.

This spirit was captured in three television films based on his life: "Bill," "Bill on His Own" and "Friends Indeed." Let us share in the "Spirit of Bill" this holiday season.

Bill's legacy lives on in the coffee shop Wild Bill's in the School of Social Work and in its crosstown cousin Uptown Bill's Coffee House and Neighborhood Art Center.

Tom Walz

Iowa City

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This season share the 'Spirit of Bill'

Some old timers will remember when Iowa City boasted of its own Santa Claus. If you saw him on the street you couldn't miss him. From the first of December until Christmas he would wear his Santa